The use of anti-personnel mines has “dramatically decreased” in recent decades, a leading expert on the munitions said on Tuesday, amid concerns about the high number of civilian casualties in conflict zones. Amelie Chayer from UN partner organization the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, told UN News how the international community to tackling the issue.

It’s not every day you see a giant inflatable toilet installed in downtown Geneva outside the UN, but that’s what was on view today, in a bid to raise awareness about the fact that more than 890 million people still defecate in the open.

Ending intolerance means eliminating one of humanity’s “dark spots,” Sukhdeep Singh Bhogal, better known as YouTube hip-hop artist and musician, L-FRESH THE LION, told UN News on Friday, marking the International Day for Tolerance.

He spoke with Natalie Hutchison of UN News about how is striving to take down cultural barriers by drawing from his multinational background.

For this special edition of our Lid Is On podcast, the head of our UN News Arabic unit, Reem Abaza, reports from the Al-Shifa Hospital, where dozens of victims of violence are undergoing often years of treatment, in the face of cutbacks and funding crises.